The Power of Darkness
by DoomStrider96
Summary: A mysterious woman watches from the shadows and sees a young boy in need of help. watch what happens when she gives it. watch what happens when Naruto is taught the true power of darkness
1. Chapter 1

**Greetings everyone! first of all, thank you for taking the time to give this story a try! and right now I need you warn you . . . I am stretching my serious legs a bit on this one so graphic displays are graphic . . . i'll stop short of lemons . . . i think . . . be nice to know what a mod thought on the topic but yeah, violence is a thing that exists and so does trauma and what not. it shouldn't be too too bad but still, you have been warned.**

 **also, I wrote this first chapter while listening to a three hour mix of Audiomachine . . . you might notice the recommendation right below this AN . . . yeah some good stuff there, in any case, I'll occasionally recommend songs if I wrote a piece to the tune of a song rather than just listened to the song while writing but yeah.**

 **I noticed that people smoke in Naruto and decided that they never said what they were smoking so I just came up with "Fire Leaf" on the spot as a tobacco substitute, the afflictions of Fire Leaf are well known and easily curable to those with access to shinobi medicine and techniques so it's reasonably safe for ninja to smoke and not sacrifice their breathing capabilities but it's considered impolite to smoke in front of others and it is still bad for you so yeah.**

 **Lastly, this is the pilot for this new story . . . it's actually probably gonna sit here a while cause i'm still currently working on (as of writing this) Yadokawa Naruto (check it out if you'd like) so my updating of this story is gonna be glacial at times.**

 **in any case, i hope you like this first chapter of The Power of Darkness, see you at the bottom.**

* * *

 **Prologue**

 **(Author here: I wrote this scene to the tune of "Young Blood" by Audiomachine . . . I recommend trying it out for this scene)**

The Nine-Tailed Fox launched his Bijuu Bomb against Konoha, only for the attack to be absorbed by the fourth Hokage. Watching from a rooftop far from the battle was a woman, her hair flowing to her shoulder blades and forming a knife shape as it met in a point in the center of her back. The woman watched the battle with no emotion evident on her features, her dark green Kimono dress fluttering slightly in the wind around her. Many would assume the woman was a part of a daimyo's court for her formal attire alone but the fact she was standing on a pointed rooftop with the grace of a shinobi, belied that theory.

The woman stood stock still as she watched the entire battle unfold, not even flinching when the Fox's ungodly attacks came near her rooftop. It was only when the Fox was sealed into the the body of a baby boy that the woman begin to move. Her footsteps made now sound as she walked across the tiled roof despite her wooden geta sandals. When the woman arrived at the end of the rooftop, the shadows rose up around her before sinking into the ground and reemerging on another rooftop in the blink of an eye. The woman didn't even break a stride as she continued across the still intact houses, blinking from one rooftop to the next in a shroud of darkness.

Finally coming to the street she wanted, the woman blinked onto the street and began heading towards the site of the battle.

"Stop!" Called out a Konoha shinobi from behind the woman. "I can't let you go that way! It's dangerous!" The man said and yet the woman didn't react or even show recognition of his presence. The shinobi jumped in front of the woman with Kunai in hand and a frantic look on his face. "If you won't turn back I will force you!" The shinobi said as the woman approached him. The shinobi's attention on the woman meant that he didn't notice his shadow darken until tendrils of blackness reached up his legs and covered his body. The man made to scream but found himself unable to utter a sound as the dark tendrils covered his mouth and eyes. When the darkness receded there was nothing left save for a single kunai clattering to the ground, a bloody hand still clutching it.

Naruto as a young boy at the tender age of four was living on the streets after having just been kicked out of the orphanage. At this present moment Naruto was hungry and hiding in a dead end alley to escape the cold chill of winter. Thankfully this was a more mild winter and it had barely snowed. Naruto was still cold in spite of the mild weather but most importantly, he was hungry. Naruto clutched his stomach, rocking back and forward as tears fell down his face from the hunger pains he was experiencing when the darkness swelled and rose up slightly before receding and revealing a brown paper parcel in it's wake. Naruto looked around to see who had put that parcel there when his eyes locked onto a woman, her pale skin almost glowing in the light of evening.

"Eat sparingly, make that food last as long as you can" The woman said before the darkness of the alley rose up and claimed the woman as if she had never been there to begin with. Naruto looked at the spot she had been in and at the parcel before ripping it open and his tears were renewed when he was gifted the sight of a box of wrapped rice balls. Naruto ripped open one of the packages and wolfed the rice ball down and was about to reach for the second when he remembered the strange woman's words and thought better of it, he wanted to make sure the food lasted because he wasn't sure when he'd next get another meal.

"Thank you nee-chan" Naruto said quietly to the wind in the hopes that who or whatever was watching him would hear. She did.

* * *

 **(Author here: I wrote this scene to the tune of "Prelude of Dreams" and "Blood and stone" both Audiomachine works, recommend trying them . . . oh and this scene might be distressing, hope I added a warning in the AN at the top)**

Naruto ran for his life with the hoots and hollers of a group of men pursuing him around every turn. He had been found by the Hokage almost a year after he had been kicked out of the orphanage and had been given his own him to live in but it had been some time then and the now six year old Naruto was a much more known quantity in Konoha with people now knowing where he lived. That night was October tenth, his birthday and, if the men behind him had anything to say about it, his death day as well. Naruto was paying attention to his chasers when he ran headlong into a wall, he had turned down a dead end alley.

"Looks like we got the demon now lads!" one of the men called out with an almost insane grin on his face. "Nowhere to run and no robes to hide behind" he said, his voice breaking at the glee he was facing over being able to finally kill the demon. Naruto watched on in absolute terror as the twelve men each withdrew weapons, the leader of them pulling out a tanto knife and the others holding kitchen knives, table legs or wooden planks with nails driven through them.

"P-please don't do this" Naruto begged, tears welling in his eyes as he realised he might die. The reaction only garnered psychotic laughter from the leader as he threw his fist out, connecting with Naruto's face and driving him into the wall. Naruto slumped down, barely maintaining consciousness until the leader slammed his foot into Naruto's chest, causing the blonde boy to cough up blood and crumple onto the ground, a fit of coughing denoting the damage that had just been dealt to him.

"Look at that!" the man exclaimed gleefully "Not so mighty now are you KYUUBI" the man shouted, Naruto barely heard the man though and thus was unable to hear what the man called him as spots danced across his eyes. The man's eyes were wide in psychotic glee as he raised his knife high into the sky. Unlike a lot of the men that were with him, the leader was very sober, he didn't want the best night of his life ruined by being drunk. The other men however, were too plastered by their own grief and the alcohol they tried to drown it with to care about what was about to happen so instead, the cheered. The man rolled Naruto, who had recovered enough to not be coughing, onto his back and, his knife held aloft, plunged the blade into Naruto's chest. The men surrounding him and the boy cheered as Naruto screamed in pain before gurgles halted the boy's screaming and he began coughing again. The leader removed his knife from the boy and took a step back to allow his mob to finish the job when the shadows rose up behind Naruto and a woman in a dark green Kimono appeared, her features completely devoid of any emotion.

"Oi! You 'ere to 'ave some ffffun too?" Asked a man so drunk he was barely able to stand. The woman gave a quick glance to that man and the one that wore a psychotic expression before turning her gaze to Naruto who was seemingly unconscious and bleeding out quickly from his chest wound. The woman turned her attention back to the men in front of her and all of a sudden the men gasped and took steps back as twelve tendrils of pure darkness came out of the woman's back and fanned out around her like tails. Before the men could so much as utter a syllable, the tendrils shot forth and speared all twelve men through the heart, carving half-foot holes in their chests. None of the men uttered anything more as the woman withdrew her tendrils and watched as the men flopped to the ground, dead before ever meeting it. The woman then wrapped Naruto in darkness and both of them blinked out of existence.

* * *

Naruto slowly woke up, enjoying the feel of a soft bed as he opened his eyes. The first thing that Naruto noticed was that he was naked and the second thing he noticed was that his chest was covered in some kind of darkness. Naruto looked closely at the dark stuff on his chest and noticed that there was a lighter darkness inside of the stuff that was swirling around.

"You are awake" came a voice that Naruto hadn't heard for almost two years. The voice itself was quite, soft and feminine and held no emotion whatsoever without actually being cold.

"You saved me!" Naruto said in awe that someone would do that, he was so sure he was going to die in that alley. "Are you an angel? Or a god? I heard there are gods everywhere, what's your name?" Naruto fired off at a rapid pace but the woman merely stood there watching him. Naruto fidgeted a little under the woman's unblinking gaze and flinched when she walked forward and placed a hand on the black stuff on his chest. When the woman removed her hand, the black stuff went with it and Naruto saw his completely healed body underneath it. He also realised he was naked in front of this woman.

"There are clothes on the stool, I will return you when you are dress" the woman said as she turned her back and left the dark room. Naruto just now noticed that he was in a room but the walls were made of rock and curved with a concave ceiling. Getting up, Naruto saw the stool that the woman mentioned and that there was a bundle of dark green on it with a pair of dark green sandals next to the stool. The outfit was merely just a shirt, a pair of pants, some underwear and sandals but still, Naruto was immensely grateful to the mystery woman for everything she had done for him. Once dressed, Naruto turned around and began looking for the woman. He didn't need to go far before she appeared in front of him, her pale skin still seeming to glow in the darkness.

"W-where are we?" Naruto asked and still he received nothing from the woman.

"When you return, try to enroll in the academy, become a shinobi to defend yourself in future situations" the woman said to the boy and he just nodded, quietened by the woman's lack of answers. The woman walked towards Naruto and was about to put her hand on his shoulder when the boy in question lunged forward and wrapped his arms around her. Naruto, having buried himself in his embrace, did not see the woman's eyes widen a mere fraction as the only indication of her surprise but the woman put her arms around the boy as well, despite her having schooled her features into the emotionless mask she had been wearing up till then.

"Thank you nee-chan" Naruto said as he broke their hug and the woman nodded before placing a hand on the boy's shoulder and the darkness engulfed Naruto.

Naruto was faced with the strangest sensation. The darkness felt like water in that it flowed around him and, he broke the 'surface' of the darkness like he had been swimming in a river but instead found himself in the alley he had been attacked in. there were still bloodstains in some places but most of it had been cleaned up, not that Naruto knew why there were bloodstains there in the first place.

* * *

Naruto noticed that the sun was just starting to rise and realised he had been wherever he had been overnight as he made his way into the Hokage tower and towards the Hokage's office.

"Hey oji-san!" Naruto called out cheerfully as he opened the door and walked in to see the old man with heavy bags under his eyes raise his head so fast Naruto was sure he heard something pop. before Naruto could react and before the Hokage could even utter a word, an ANBU agent appeared by Naruto with a kunai in hand. The ANBU's arm was stopped a mere hair's breadth from slitting Naruto's throat by the hand of the Hokage himself.

"When I need your intervention, I. will. Signal." Sarutobi growled low and guttural causing the ANBU to recoil in shock as nobody had ever heard the old Professor speak that way. "Now Naruto, where have you been!? I've been so worried!" Sarutobi said, releasing the ANBU's hand and addressing Naruto. The boy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, not noticing the small dribble of blood from a wound that had already closed running down his neck.

"This woman rescued me from some men that were trying to kill me and she took me somewhere" Naruto said before frowning as he tried to think.

"And who exactly was it that took you? Did she say her name?" Sarutobi asked the boy, noticing the frown.

"No . . . when I asked she would just stay silent" Naruto said, he thought it was strange but he didn't really care since the woman had saved his life twice now. "And it's not the first time she saved me either!" the boy stated enthusiastically, forcing Sarutobi to quirk an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" the old man asked, moving to sit behind his desk again, struggling to ignore the weariness of the lack of sleep he had been experiencing recently.

"She gave me food when I was living on the street!" Naruto said, smiling his megawatt smile. Sarutobi merely sighed and allowed a small smile to appear on his face.

"And where did she take you?" he asked, already knowing Naruto wouldn't be able to answer.

"I don't know . . . the walls were all curved and stuff . . . so was the roof too and the walls were all rock" Naruto said, trying to explain everything he had seen. Sarutobi took this information in with minor apprehension as he immediately ran through the suspects that would have a base like that in the vicinity. "But it's okay right? I was only gone a few hours" Naruto said and Sarutobi raised his head to look at the boy.

"My boy . . . you have been gone for an entire week" the old kage said quietly, pulling his pipe out, putting some leaf in it and lighting it. Naruto's eyes were wide and his mouth hung open as he took in this information. "You sure you can't tell me anything else? Anything at all?" the man asked softly and Naruto shook his head. "I need more than that Naruto but I know you don't remember so I'm going to have someone who specialises in this to come in and see if he can find anything else out for us" Sarutobi said. "Don't worry Naruto, I don't think you are lying but sometimes, especially after a traumatic experience, we forget things" he said and the boy nodded mutely.

* * *

"So what were you able to find out Inoichi-san" Sarutobi asked as a blond haired man left the hospital room Naruto was in. Sarutobi had Naruto checked in just to make sure nothing was out of the ordinary and the medics gave him some startling news that the boy was almost fully recovered from what looked like a stab wound over his chest as well as several broken ribs.

Inoichi for his part merely sat down on a nearby chair, sighed and put his head in his hands for a few seconds.

"I need to speak to Shikaku" Inoichi said, taking his head out of his hands and looking Sarutobi in the eyes.

"Why? What happened?" The old kage asked, worried by what he had been told by the doctor.

"The boy was attacked by a group of twelve men . . . he was almost dead when a mystery woman intervened . . . stabbed in the chest by a knife, a Tanto I think" Inoichi said, his eyes glazing over for a second as he pulled the memories up. "The woman appeared out of nowhere and used some kind of shadow jutsu that looked suspiciously like Shikaku's shadow stitching jutsu to kill all twelve men simultaneously" he said and Sarutobi closed his eyes at the news. "The rest was him in a dark room that looked like it was underground . . . the design suggested it was deep underground, it could even be under the alley he was in when attack but it would be too deep for us to find . . . the woman used some kind of shadow teleportation jutsu to get Naruto out of it" Inoichi said and Sarutobi opened his eyes again.

"This is turning out to be troublesome" Sarutobi said while Inoichi snickered at the joke. "How is he mentally?" the old kage asked.

"I'd be telling you the boy would need heavy treatment and may even be a lost cause . . . but there is no significant psychological trauma that I could detect . . . I find that odd" Inoichi replied and the two shared a look before going off to meet Shikaku.

* * *

"It's not a shadow jutsu" Shikaku said, Inoichi's hands already returning to his sides

"What do you mean? It looked exactly like your shadow stitching jutsu!" Inoichi said in reply to his friend's words.

"At first glance it might look like that woman is controlling shadows but she wasn't . . . I have no idea what that was she used but it was not shadow . . . it almost looked like some kind of chakra" Shikaku said, what he didn't say is that the woman was eerily familiar to him and he knew exactly where she'd be from if he was correct. Sarutobi was looking at him with an intense gaze, it seemed like the old kage had caught on to the fact that there was something unsaid.

"What is it Shikaku-kun" Sarutobi said quietly, using a suffix to remind Shikaku of his place.

"It might be nothing" he said and both Sarutobi and Inoichi narrowed their eyes "or it could be everything" Shikaku continued cryptically. Sarutobi sighed as he realised he wasn't going to get anything more out of the Nara. out of the three men in that room however, Shikaku was the only one to notice a shadow darken in a far corner of the room they were in.

* * *

Naruto was standing in a forest clearing, throwing Kunai at a tree. He had been in the academy for two years now but his throwing technique was still abysmal at best. Naruto grunted in frustration as he threw a shuriken and watched as it went off into the distance behind the tree.

"Use your wrist" came the quiet voice of Naruto's mysterious guardian. Naruto jumped and turned around to face the woman in question who was standing on a tree branch above him.

"W-what?" Naruto asked, shocked that he was seeing the woman again.

"Use your wrist" She said again. "Throw the tools with your wrist, not your arm" she explained. Naruto turned around again and held up a shuriken to throw it, taking the woman's words into account as he swept his arm forward. This time however, his flicked his wrist at just the right time and watched in astonishment as the shuriken went reasonably close to where he wanted it. His aim was still horrible but it was much better than consistently missing. Naruto turned around to thank the woman but realised she was gone. He sighed and let out a small smile.

"Thank you nee-chan" he said quietly, sure that the woman wouldn't hear him but saying it anyway. She heard.

* * *

At the age of ten, Naruto was yet again running for his life on his birthday, only this time, he was able to escape using Ninja techniques, leaping onto rooftops and running faster than the civilians could catch him. At some point the darkness swallowed Naruto and he found himself in the room he was in four years ago when the woman saved him from the group of men.

"Err, nee-chan?" Naruto called out and the woman appeared in front of him, a stick with a small flame on the end in her hand. The woman placed the stick on the inside of a lamp and held it there until the paper lamp lit up before repeating the process on two more lamps scattered around the room.

"Do you want to know the reason the village hates you?" the woman asked in her quiet voice before pointing to a low table and a seiza cushion. Naruto was floored by that question and with almost no hesitation at all, sat on the cushion and waited for the woman. The woman gracefully glided over to the cushion and gracefully lowered herself until she was sitting on her knees, her kimono dress not crinkled in the slightest. Somehow a pot of tea appeared on the table along with two cups and Naruto watched as the woman gracefully poured two cups of tea.

"Why does the village hate me?" Naruto asked, sure the woman was going to ignore him and she did as she continued to pour the tea until two cups of steaming tea were in front of them.

"Because ten years ago the fourth hokage sealed the Nine-Tailed Fox inside of you" The woman said as she picked up her tea and took a sip. Naruto was about to pick up his own cup when he heard the woman and was frozen in shock.

"T-that . . . no . . . that can't be right" Naruto whispered, his eyes wide and unblinking as he sat there.

"It is, the Fox was sealed into you on the day of your birth" The woman said, her cup hitting the table with barely a sound. "The reason the villagers hate you in particular is because they have gotten the notion you ARE the Fox . . . a mistake on their part perpetrated by the third Hokage himself" the woman said, her eyes lowering from Naruto to the tea. "After all, why would the most powerful man in the village keep an eye on a random orphan" she said before picking up her cup of tea and taking another small sip of it, closing her eyes to enjoy the brew.

"Y-you're wrong!" Naruto said though his conviction was noticeably less than it normally would have been.

"What is your dream?" The woman asked Naruto and the boy replied with no hesitation

"To be the greatest hokage! So that the people stop treating me like a demon and start respecting me!" Naruto said, the conviction back in his voice.

"It doesn't work like that" The woman said, taking another sip of her tea.

"W-what do you mean?" Asked Naruto, afraid to know the answer.

"In order to become Hokage, you must already be respected . . . the Hokage is expected to give his life in defence of his village but he is also expected to send his shinobi to their deaths and sacrifice anything to preserve his village . . . even a young boy who holds a demon in him" The woman said, locking eyes with Naruto. "He needed to ensure you would do what he told you" she said and Naruto could almost feel his life shattering like a glass pane. It was at that point that Naruto noticed the woman sitting there, looking at him and if he looked close enough he could almost imagine he saw concern in her eyes. He remembered that she was there when he was alone on the streets to give him food and she was there when the villagers tried to kill him.

"That can't be right" Naruto said, his voice barely a whisper as tears welled up in his eyes and fell down his cheeks.

"I doubt the Hokage likes it any more than you do . . . but when it comes down to it . . . what's one little boy compared to the entire village of Konohagakure?" the woman asked and Naruto lowered his head. "The village doesn't love you . . . there are people here that might and some that likely do but most hate you with such a passion, they'd sooner kill you" Naruto began sobbing until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Raising his head and revealing his already puffy eyes with tears streaming down them, he saw actual concern in the woman's own eyes. "Come with me Naruto" she said softly and Naruto's eyes widened and he thought about it for a little while before looking at the woman with longing. He wanted to but he wasn't sure. "Take some time to figure it out . . . and the clock has just clicked over into the next day so congratulations on surviving another birthday, may you survive many more" the woman said softly causing Naruto to giggle wetly. Both Naruto and the woman got up from the table and the woman brought Naruto into a hug. Again, Naruto was too busy enjoying the contact to realise that the woman had an almost unnoticeable smile on her face.

* * *

"Naruto-kun!" Called out the soft voice of Hinata as she caught up with the blond boy. She had seen him wandering the streets and saw the look on his face and decided to finally swallow her fear and talk to the boy. They had ended up on the Hokage monument by the time Hinata had caught up. "N-Naruto-kun, what's wrong?" Hinata asked softly, blushing madly as she fiddled with her fingers and refusing to meet Naruto's gaze.

"Ahh nothing . . . I think I'm leaving" he said softly, turning to face the village he had lived in for ten years. Hinata's head snapped up and she gave Naruto a shocked look.

"W-what?" the girl asked, stunned by the blonde's admission.

"The village hates me . . . people try to kill me on my birthday every year and sometimes other times of the year too . . ." he said with a forlorn smile. "I can't stay here any longer" Hinata could hear the sadness in the boy's voice and realised he wasn't leaving, he was running away.

"I-I-I don't hate you" Hinata stuttered as she took a hesitant half-step forward, the sun slowly sinking on the horizon and drenching the two children in golden light. Naruto turned back to look at Hinata and walked up to her. Hinata was unable to move or do anything at all as Naruto's cerulean blue eyes locked her own in place. Naruto moved forward and hugged the girl who blushed madly at the contact before hesitantly returning the embrace.

"Thanks Hinata . . . it's nice to hear that but I'm still leaving" Naruto said softly into the girl's ear. Hinata was unable to stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks as Naruto pulled back from her. "We may never meet again but I'm glad I met you" he said before turning around and walking off. The last Hinata saw of the smiling blonde burst of sunshine vanished as the darkness rose up and claimed him.

"Goodbye Naruto" Hinata whispered into thin air "Thank you for all you have done for me" she said before turning around and heading home

* * *

 **well, we are at the end of this pilot chapter . . . it's 03:44 . . . that's pretty late . . . sun'll be up in an hour and a quarter . . . yikes . . . well, with that delightful thought, i would just like to mention that as of writing this chapter, I have literally no idea on what or even if there is gonna be a pairing at all but you can be sure that when I do decide, it's not gonna be straight forward and I'm not gonna tell you straight off the bat . . . probably not gonna be Hinata though . . . much as i like a nice cute little naruhina, this isn't gonna be like that . . . leave suggestions but exclude those who are 18 or older at the time of the pre-timeskip (so the first naruto show) unless it's Hana . . . she might be in the running . . . not sure, you'll see why later but those two will be like water and oil.**

 **in any case, please tell me what you liked, disliked, what you thought could use improvement and what you'd like to see more of. take care.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Greetings everyone! firstly let me just say . . . oh mine gott! the response! for one chapter in the span of four and a half hours i got a quarter of the reviews i got for Yadokawa Naruto since May over 14 chapters! cheesus crust on a cracker! thank you guys so much!**

 **okay, now on to the meat and bones of this AN . . . first on that list is the pairings, thank you all who recommended a pairing there have been several recommendations for a Naru-Saku pairing and that may even play into the story a little . . . maybe . . . it could work. second up was some non-linear pairings like shion or haruna . . . people like that. i have looked at some of those characters and I think i've picked out one i like but i can't remember the name of her right now . . . i'll find it again . . . especially considering it's a part of the old Naruto show i believe i have missed . . . or just don't remember watching it . . . one of the two. lastly for the pairings was an OC . . . this intrigued me because of an OC i had already planned on being close to Naruto but how close I wonder? keep up the suggestions people! i would like to hear all your thoughts on this matter. and remember, I'm only filtering out persons who are older than 18 years of age as of the beginning of the first arc . . . i may lift that slightly but yeah.**

 **okay, next on the list. someone pointed out that Naruto never asked what happened to the men that tired to kill him in the last chapter . . . you know? the ones that damn near succeeded? yeah . . . that was my bad . . . i accidentally edited out a section of the conversation between Naruto and Sarutobi where Naruto asks just that question and is informed that they are dead and that the village believes he did it . . . until Inoichi came and informed them all about the mystery woman doing it so yeah . . . whoops.**

 **lastly . . . when I wrote the pilot chapter . . . i expected it to sit there a while and be as popular as say . . . Akane's Family . . . I was gonna write this story for fun when I was done with Yadokawa Naruto . . . what does this mean? i had nothing planned when I wrote that pilot chapter . . . my plans are still ludicrously vague although they are coming together nicely . . . suffice to say, I spent the last *looks at time in the bottom of screen* shit . . . fourteen hours . . . fuck . . . well, i've spent the last fourteen hours working on this story to try and cobble together a chapter and I am fervent in my belief that even with most of a day spent on it, it's still shite . . . I'll let you guys be the judge of that though.**

 **in anycase, I hope you all enjoy, see you at the bottom.**

* * *

 **Part 1**

As the sun rose over the horizon, two figures were painted in golden light. Standing on a rise, the two figures overlooked the village of Konoha, silently making preparations of their return.

"So what exactly was your plan again?" A boy, no older than fourteen asked as he watched the village below him. The boy was wearing a black outfit that consisted of a jerkin over a long sleeved tunic with a pair of combat trousers and tight fitting gloves, all trimmed with dark orange highlights. The Jerkin also had a hood and a face mask, both of which were drawn meaning that no part of the boy was visible and even his voice was altered to be unrecognisable.

"You will know in time . . . for now remember exactly what it is we have discussed and don't lose sight of your current goal" The woman standing beside the boy said, her dark green kimono dress fluttering in the early morning breeze.

"Ah yes . . . my goal" the boy said "That shouldn't be too hard" he shrugged.

"Be cautious . . . I will watch over you for a short while but I have already spent too much time doing so" the woman said, casually glancing at the boy next to her

"Don't worry, you taught me well" The boy said before turning to look at the woman "So what was your name?" he asked and one could almost hear the grin on his face. The woman turned back to him and smirked, a display of emotion that had never been seen before by the boy.

"Take care Naruto" she said before the darkness rose up and claimed her.

"You too, nee-chan" Naruto replied into the empty air before beginning his trek towards the hokage tower.

* * *

Naruto decided to enter the Hokage's office with style and went through three handsigns before the darkness rose up around him and when it fell, he was standing in Sarutobi's office.

"Who's there!?" The old kage demanded as Naruto stepped into the light of the rising sun.

"You don't remember me old man?" Naruto asked, his voice showing no emotion at all.

"Drop your head and show me your face" Sarutobi commanded, his eyes tracking the darkly clad boy. Naruto did as demanded and he could hear the sharp intake of breath as his blonde hair, blue eyes and whiskers were revealed to the old kage. "Naruto" he whispered in shock

"In the flesh" Naruto said, his mouth quirking at the edges slightly in a smile.

"Where have you been? It's been two years!" Sarutobi said, the astonishment hitting him hard.

"Two years?" Naruto asked, turning his head to look out the window at konoha "It felt like six" he said. "The woman I told you about took me to her village and trained me there" he explained and Sarutobi finally noticed that Naruto was speaking with no emotion whatsoever.

"If that is the case, I'd like to have Inoichi-san take a look inside your memories again" The old kage said casually, as if he expected Naruto to just accept this.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that this time hokage-sama" Naruto said quietly and Sarutobi was struck by just how blank the boy's face was. He was beginning to worry that Danzo had gotten his hands on the boy. "My seeming lack of an emotional state is merely perpetuated by my training in masking any and all emotional response as opposed to suppressing emotions altogether" Naruto said and Sarutobi wondered if he could read his mind. "Having spent many years in a village that runs the philosophy that emotions are shared between loved ones alone has enabled me to detect subtle indications of such displays" at this, Sarutobi bowed his head with a heavy sigh. The boy was reading his micro-reactions because that was all he could use to tell what people were thinking.

 _Flashback_

"What is your name?" Asked an elderly woman who looked down on Naruto with a blank expression. Naruto opened his mouth to answer when the woman cut in "Do not answer that" she said in the same soft style as Naruto's guardian. She had taken the blonde boy to a village with people that all walked around with blank expressions. Naruto was surprised at how big it was, even moving at shinobi speeds it took an hour to get from the gates of the village to his guardian's home. "Whenever someone asks you for information, carefully consider if they need to know that information and if they don't, refuse an answer" the woman explained and Naruto nodded. "Your name is very personal information, that should only be shared with people you love if you can help it . . . now, let's begin our lessons on how to mask your emotions"

 _Flashback end_

"So why have you returned?" Sarutobi asked the blonde, adopting his old grandfatherly smile.

"I have completed my training to a sufficient degree and so I requested the ability to return" Naruto said blandly, he had adopted the same style of soft speaking that his guardian had used. Of course, the Hokage had no idea what Naruto was thinking but his gut feeling told him there was more to the story than that.

"So you wish to join the ranks of Konoha's shinobi?" Sarutobi asked, pulling out his pipe and filling it with leaf before lighting it. Naruto for his part merely nodded his head almost imperceptibly. "Can you tell me what you were doing in your time away?" Sarutobi asked, hoping to get something from the boy.

"I was training . . . and learning . . . I was trained in many techniques native to the people who took me in including taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu and the usage of tools" Naruto stated, his tone of voice completely unchanging.

"I see . . . would you mind if I had someone test you out to see if you are qualified?" Sarutobi asked "It's merely a formality but you must understand I can't really take you at your word" he continued.

"I understand Hokage-sama, I will submit to testing" Naruto said with a slight incline of his head

"Right then, fetch me Iruka from the academy please" Sarutobi said to one of the ANBU hidden in the room. Naruto suppressed a smirk as one of the shadows in the room darkened slightly, alerting him to the presence of his guardian.

Several minutes later, a knock came on the door and Iruka entered.

"You wanted to see me Hokage-sama?" The man asked, his scar jumping with every word.

"Ahh Iruka-san . . . meet Naruto, I would like you to test him to see if he is capable of being a genin of Konoha" Sarutobi said past his pipe.

"Ahh right . . . well then, shall we go to a training field or do it here?" Iruka asked, scratching his head at the unusual situation he was in.

"A training field please, I wish for you to test Naruto in everything a genin needs to know" He said

"Right, Hokage-sama, please follow me Naruto-kun" Iruka said and walked out of the room with Naruto in tow.

* * *

"Alright Naruto, let's start with your throwing weapons" Iruka said with a smile though Naruto could tell it was a forced smile he had applied to make him feel more comfortable. "Please throw ten shuriken and ten kunai at those targets" he said, indicating the targets in question.

 _Flashback_

"We will be your instructors for the physical and conventional style of combat" came the bland voice of a tall man on Naruto's left. They were in an open field with targets and training dummies littered around it.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, still trying to wrap his head around all the big words that people were using.

"Ninjutsu can be used as a potent weapon, however, if you specialise in that alone, you will suffer" came the bland voice of a woman who looked almost exactly the same as the man save for a few minor details. Naruto was sure they were brother and sister but from his teachings with the old lady, he knew not to ask.

"You will face occasion when you are required to fight in hand to hand, or when you are required to perform a task and you will not want to waste chakra or be unable to use Ninjutsu" The man continued, picking up where the woman left off.

"We will teach you how to perform near all actions performable with Dark style Ninjutsu with tools and your own body instead so that you may if required" the woman finished. Naruto looked between them and came to the conclusion that they were definitely siblings.

"First, we shall instruct you on the art of throwing weapons . . . anything can be thrown with power and accuracy, it merely depends on where you hold it and how" the man said and Naruto nodded, picking up several practice weapons.

 _Flashback end_

Naruto's arms flashed forward and ten small three bladed shuriken thudded into the target. Iruka was surprised by the speed at which they were thrown and noticed that all of the bladed discs landed exactly dead center of the target.

"Great now Kunai" Iruka said, reapplying his smile as he looked at the blonde.

"I apologize but I do not carry ten kunai of similar specification to the ones you would have me throw" Naruto said in his soft monotone.

"Err . . . that's okay, I can lend you mine for the purpose of this test" Iruka said while giving the boy a confused look before handing over the tools. Iruka watched as Naruto took the knives and weighted them in his hand, spinning them around a little before nodding and throwing them with precision and power but not the same speed he had thrown the shuriken with. Iruka also noticed that the first kunai was slightly off the mark.

"I was not taught how to use Konoha standard kunai . . . but I was taught that anything can be thrown if you know who to hold them" Naruto said in way of explanation.

"Good" Iruka said, his expression showing his surprise that this boy had such skill. "Let's retrieve our weapons and move on to the next section" he said. And the two walked up to the targets and retrieve their tools before returning. "Now, we are going to test out your Taijutsu . . . I don't expect you to know the Konoha standard style so I'm just going to judge your level to see if it's genin or higher and leave it at that" Iruka said before adopting an academy standard stance. "Are you ready?" Iruka asked after he saw that Naruto had not moved at all save for changing his positioning so that he was standing square on with Iruka and then the scarred teacher noticed that the stance Naruto was in was very reminiscent of a Taijutsu stance. Naruto merely nodded his affirmation which confirmed Iruka's suspicion.

 _Flashback_

"Now we shall teach you Taijutsu" Said the man, it had been a few hours already and Naruto's wrists were starting to get saw from all the throwing practice he had just gone through.

"The Taijutsu we are going to teach you is similar to the throwing techniques in that it allows you to use as little energy as possible to cause as much damage as possible" The woman explained.

"For now we shall merely teach you the first level form . . . similar to your katas from the academy, when we feel you are ready, we shall teach you actual fighting techniques" the man continued and the two began their instruction of the blonde boy

 _Flashback end_

Iruka moved forward at genin speeds and attempted to strike Naruto in the chest with his fist when the blonde's hand snapped up almost faster than Iruka could track but, while Iruka was focused on Naruto's arm that redirected his own attack, he missed the punch that slammed into his abdomen and the kick that hit his knee. Iruka jumped back, noticing the pain that standing on his left leg now caused him as he carefully watched the blonde for signs of movement, none were forthcoming so Iruka attacked again, this time at his full speed of middle chunin and yet again, his punches were redirected while Naruto countered with his own punches and kicks in rapid, explosive attacks. It became evident to Iruka that Naruto's taijutsu style was superior to the academy standard and conceded the match.

"A-alright, Naruto . . . very good" Iruka said, feeling the pain from multiple strikes but shaking it off. "Taijutsu was never my strong suit and the academy standard is merely an entry taijutsu to allow one to formulate their own or learn a better one so it makes sense it would be beaten so easily" Iruka said, attempting to justify his defeat to a mere genin. Naruto for his part merely remained silent and didn't react. "Next up is Ninjutsu, please perform the academy three" Iruka said and Naruto just looked at him. Iruka waited for a few more seconds before he finally realised that the blonde would have no idea what the academy three were. "Err sorry about that" Iruka said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "That's the clone, the substitution and the transformation jutsu" Naruto nodded and darkness leaked out of him, turning into two perfect copies of himself while he turned into Iruka that was accurate to every visible detail other than a blank expression that Naruto always wore and finally, he switched himself out with a nearby log, casually walking back to Iruka who was standing there gaping at the boy who had done all three of these things without a single handsign.

"I spent many hours attempting to perfect my jutsu and control . . . I have distilled many of my basic techniques to one handsign or none at all" Naruto explained to the stunned chunin.

"Exactly how long have you been gone for?" Iruka asked but Naruto didn't answer.

* * *

"So how did he do Iruka-kun?" Sarutobi asked as he took in the two who had just walked back in.

"Well . . . you wanted to know if he was good for chunin right? Cause if so I'd say yes" Iruka said, rubbing the back of his head.

"I'll take that to mean he is good enough to be a genin then" Sarutobi said with a small smile. "You may leave Iruka" he said and Iruka bowed before leaving the room. "So, you have been busy then Naruto-kun" Sarutobi said as he turned his attention back to the boy.

"Please do not use my name so lightly . . . names have power and where I am from, names are used only among lovers and closest relatives" Naruto said quietly and Sarutobi widened slightly before narrowing them. This was the first taste of information that Naruto had given him regarding the mysterious village he had been in.

"So the people you are with are naturally tight-lipped?" Sarutobi asked, hoping to keep the ball rolling but Naruto merely declined an answer causing the old kage to sigh. "You are going to need accommodations" the old man said quietly.

"I would prefer my old apartment back if at all possible, it was very out of the way" Naruto said, turning to look out the window and at Konoha.

"Hmm, that's going to be difficult, the owner was unable to afford the keep the place and so it is for sale . . . unfortunately, nobody has bought the building" Sarutobi said

"Then could I purchase the building?" Naruto asked which caused Sarutobi to hum in thought. "Money shouldn't be an issue, I have plenty of currency on me" the old kage looked down at the boy in contemplation.

"Alright, but what could you possibly need an entire apartment building for? Your old building wasn't small" Sarutobi said, pulling out some paperwork to allow Naruto to buy the building. "Take this form downstairs to the accountant and they will set you up. Team assignments are six days from now so get your photo done, fill out this documentation and return it here for review as soon as possible and you will meet your team next week" The old kage said before sighing at the added paperwork he now had to do.

"Hokage-sama . . . do you mind if I make an inquiry?" Naruto asked as he looked over the paperwork covering the Kage's desk.

"What is it Naruto?" Sarutobi prompted

"You know the shadow clone technique yes? Would it not be easier for your paperwork to use shadow clones?" Naruto asked and Sarutobi's eyes lit up with the sudden realisation.

"No wonder Minato spent so much time with his wife" Sarutobi said quietly before grinning madly, Naruto merely blinked at the mention of the fourth hokage. "Thank you Naruto, you have been a great help" he said taking on an insane look as he slammed his hands together and two copies of himself appeared and set themselves to work on the paperwork.

Just at that moment, the door to the office slammed open and a young boy with a blue scarf trailing behind him burst into the room.

"I have you now old man!" the boy shouted, a shuriken in his hand as he prepared to attack the Hokage. The boy took three steps into the room before he suddenly and unexpectedly slammed into the ground at speeds that might have suggested foul play if Naruto and Sarutobi hadn't seen the boy's feet get tangled in his scarf. "Drat a trap!" the boy exclaimed as he sat up rubbing his head while a man in a black bodysuit with black glasses appeared in the doorway.

"Honorable grandson! Are you alright?! Might I just inform you that there are no traps here!" the man exclaimed at the top of his voice. Naruto watched on with the same apathetic expression he always wore but underneath the mask he was simultaneously laughing and groaning at the display in front of him. Konohamaru picked himself up off the floor and looked around until his eyes locked with Naruto's while Naruto himself noticed that the man in the doorway was studying him, one hand dangerously close to his weapon pouch.

"You must have done this yourself!" The boy said, walking over to Naruto to jab a finger at him angrily.

"I must warn you that should you attack me, I will retaliate" Naruto said to the boy and immediately the man in the doorway had a Kunai in hand.

"Do not threaten the Hokage's Grandson foul demon!" the man practically growled.

"Ebisu! You overstep your bounds!" Sarutobi called out, his eyes locked on the man now identified as Ebisu. For his part, the man had his kunai away and was bowing at almost ninety degrees almost instantaneously

"Forgive me Hokage-sama! It was not my place to judge someone in your care!" he called out.

"Don't forget that Naruto merely gave Konohamaru a warning to deter violence" the old kage continued. Konohamaru watched on as his sensei was put in his place for threatening the boy that was standing in front of him. He noticed that the blonde had no emotion on his face whatsoever and watched everything with a keen analytical gaze.

"It appears you are busy with family matters" Naruto said to the Hokage, his apathetic voice hitting Konohamaru hard, the teen didn't even care about Konohamaru. "I shall take my leave of you now"

"I shall see you again when you have the correct documentation ready for me" Sarutobi said and then pulled something out from a draw. "Take this as well . . . you are a shinobi of Konoha as of now, wear it with pride" he said as he tossed the hitai-ate at Naruto who caught it and tied it onto his forehead, the one spot where he could hide or display it with ease. Naruto noticed that the darkened shadow in the corner of the room lightened as he left the room, leaving Ebisu to delve into a lecture about shortcuts to power positions Konohamaru watching as he left.

* * *

Naruto had left the Hokage's tower and was heading to the apartment building he now had the deed to when he noticed that he had a tail. It was the same boy from the Hokage's office, Konohamaru and, from Naruto could tell, he was attempting to hide using a cloth. Naruto turned around and a twitch of his eye, almost imperceptible, was his only response to the cloth rock with sandals that was in the middle of the road. Turning back and continuing on his way, Naruto returned to the building he now owned and looked at it. The years had not been kind to it as it looked run down and ill kept but Naruto knew he could get it fixed up easily enough, he had enough money on him to pay upkeep on the building as well as completely renovate it, not that he wanted to.

"Aren't you wondering why I was following you?" Came the voice of Konohamaru who was now standing behind Naruto, not paying any attention to what the blonde was doing.

"The question crossed my mind" Naruto replied "But it is of no consequence" Naruto continued, masking the amusement he felt at his jab while Konohamaru glared at the blonde.

"Train me!" Konohamaru demanded, causing Naruto to turn and face him.

"No" Naruto said simply, his blank look seeming to further incite Konohamaru.

"Train me!" Konohamaru repeated and this time Naruto decided to not deign to respond. Heading towards the office of the apartment building, Naruto was almost at the door before Konohamaru dashed in front of him with an angry glare. "Train me!" he demanded again, a scowl on his face as he looked at the only person who didn't care in the slightest that he was the Hokage's grandson.

"What is your dream?" Naruto asked, the question that had been asked of him so long ago by his guardian.

"To become Hokage so that everyone stops thinking of me as the 'Honorable Grandson' and starts treating me like myself!" Konohamaru exclaimed with determination, his fist clenched in front of him. Naruto immediately saw parallels with himself before he left the village as he studied the boy.

"A foolish goal" he said and Konohamaru growled. "You would replace the title of 'Honorable Grandson' with the title of 'Honorable Hokage' in the end, nobody would say your name . . . it will be all hokage this, hokage that" Naruto said, his words hitting the boy like a knife wound. "So you see, your goal is foolish . . . find a better one, or a better reason and you will have improved significantly" Naruto pulled out a key and walked passed the shocked Konohamaru, unlocking the door and entering the office while Konohamaru merely stood outside gaping like a fish. The boy closed his mouth and was about to turn away to go cry somewhere when he thought better of it and walked into the office after Naruto.

"Train me" Konohamaru demanded, his voice oddly subdued. Naruto looked up at the boy, some old paperwork in his hand from before the previous owner had to sell up. Naruto put the papers down and walked in front of Konohamaru, studying the boy quietly.

"I can only give you advice . . . you must do the rest" Naruto said and Konohamaru looked up, something akin to longing in his eyes. "Find what makes you passionate . . . something worthwhile and not some silly little goal . . . find something you would want to devote your life to" Naruto said before turning around and sitting down on the hard wooden chair that was behind the desk.

"What is it you live for?" Konohamaru asked quietly, awe in his eyes.

"Something grand . . ." Naruto said cryptically before casting his gaze back up to konohamaru and Ebisu who was now in the doorway of the office building.

"How did you get in here?" Ebisu asked, suspicion dripping from his voice.

"I own this building" Naruto replied and Ebisu narrowed his eyes as he adjusted his glasses.

"You will forgive me if I don't believe you" Ebisu said, one finger still on his glasses. Naruto merely tapped a document that Ebisu picked up and looked over with a critical eye before sitting it down again.

"You are one of the ones that believed I was responsible for the death of those men aren't you?" Naruto asked, going back to studying the documents in the office which detailed the condition that all the apartments were in before the owner sold out.

"Are you saying you didn't?" Ebisu sneered only to suddenly be looking into the ice cold gaze of Naruto.

"Indeed I am" he said "perhaps you should have found evidence of my crimes before trying to convince others of them but that has always been the way of Konoha hasn't it? Kill first ask questions a decade or two later" Naruto continued and Ebisu's eyes widened just a fraction in surprise. "Please leave my office, I have work that needs to be done" Naruto said, turning his attention back to the documents.

* * *

 **Well . . . here we are . . . it's been a long road getting from there to here . . . that statement was ripped straight from the opening theme song of star trek enterprise . . . anyway, I was going to include Naruto meeting his team in this chapter but that seems to have not happened . . . also he bought the building? . . . i don't think i planned that one . . . if i remember (hope i do) I'll explain where Naruto got his money in the next chapter . . . but suffice it to say, it's a lot easier for him to get some cold hard cash than one might realise.**

 **in anycase, i'm sure there are questions so let me know what you liked, disliked, what you thought could use improvement and what you'd like to see more of. take care.**


	3. Chapter 3

**greetings everyone! and thank you all to the lovely reviewers! first up, let's get some news on the pairing front! i'm seeing a more in favor of Naru-Saku at present but I still haven't ruled out an OC or another character yet . . . except for Hinata and anybody over the age of 18 . . . but as of now, i'm lifting that age rating ban to 22 . . . so if you know of a character from 12 to 21 that you'd like to see Naruto pair off with . . . let me know and i'll consider it.**

 **so, i mentioned last time that i'd explain where naruto got the money to buy an entire building from in this chapter but the truth is . . . i have no idea . . . Naruto hasn't told me yet . . . I think he was upset that I forgot to mention a few rather important details . . . as for why the building went up for sale, the owner couldn't get anyone to live there because Naruto used to live there and because the village believes that he killed those twelve men . . . yeah stigma. in any case, Naruto isn't explaining much to me as it is but don't worry . . . he has to tell me at some point . . . i'm the one writing the story.**

 **right, next on the list, in this chapter i introduce the concept of the Genin Corps . . . no idea if this is a thing in cannon but it is a thing now. what are the Genin Corps? they are basically the army reserves (or the equivalent that you might have in your country) in that they are called in for disaster relief, clearing things away and emergency evacuations and what not . . . you know, the stuff you want the army to do but don't want to waste your army doing? that sort of stuff. so a person in the Genin Corps can expect to mostly be a civilian but is called on to do D and C ranked missions from time to time.**

 **Lastly . . . i'm not sure how much steam i've got in the tank . . . i already slammed into a writers block in this chapter . . . I might need to stop churning out chapters for a couple days to a week just because I need to get my plot in order . . . this story could end up going monthly (or that glacial pace i warned about in the first chapter) simply because i'm not sure how much more plot i can generate in such a quick fashion.**

 **in any case, I hope you enjoy what's here, see you at the bottom.**

* * *

 **Part 2**

"Ahh Naruto" came the voice of the grizzled old kage as Naruto entered his office with paperwork in hand. "I have been reviewing the class that has graduated this year and come upon an interesting issue . . . there is one short of a complete nine teams . . . your absence has meant that the student who left earlier has unfortunately created a gap" Sarutobi said as Naruto walked forward and placed his registration forms on the desk. Sarutobi picked them up and gave them a detailed look before turning his attention back to the boy.

"Perhaps putting me on a team that would complement my skills? I hear there is a shadow user that graduated this year as well as a tracking and infiltration squad" Naruto said calmly as he stepped back to a respectful distance to wait for his papers to be accepted.

"Hmm, how good are you with those dark techniques? If I remember correctly, your guardian was able to kill twelve people in a single attack simultaneously" Sarutobi asked as he set the papers down and studied the blond before him.

"Controlling twelve tendrils would be difficult . . . if even doable, for me as of right now but I can create that many or more . . . it's not the generation that's the issue . . . I control them like I would my own limbs" Naruto explained and the old kage understood immediately, it takes great degrees of concentration and mental strength to be able to control extra limbs and being able to use twelve simultaneously would be nigh impossible for anyone let alone someone who had only been learning for a few years. Sarutobi also realised that if the woman was capable of doing that with contemptuous ease, she was far more fearsome a foe than he realised and he would need to try all the harder to get Naruto's loyalty back.

"I think I might have a team in mind for you . . . it's a frontline battle squad but the man that will be taking it is more than sufficient" Sarutobi said as he pulled out his pipe "It also has the rookie of the year and the kunoichi of the year on it so it should be up to your standards . . . or close to it" he continued, puffing on his pipe.

"I would prefer a capture oriented squad, or an infiltration squad but if that is where you wish to place me" Naruto replied, inclining his head.

"To be honest Naruto, the person I was intending to place on that squad is better suited for tracking than frontline combat and we have a tracker squad being made up but without a third member it would have been disbanded and the students pushed into the genin corps" the hokage said "Since those two members are clan heirs, it would be a waste for them to join the genin corps" he continued

"Is there not a class of twenty six other students? Would one of them not be better for the role? I understand if you would prefer me on that team, it is your decision after all but it may not be the best use of my abilities" Naruto replied and Sarutobi was getting minutely frustrated that he couldn't read the boy at all. Whoever taught him did their job well.

"That may be so, but I would prefer this particular jounin be your sensei and you are quite right when you said it is my decision" Sarutobi said with an air of finality. It was the most polite argument he had ever had and he quite enjoyed it. "You will be on team seven then, your jounin will the Kakashi . . . I suppose I should have let you wait and find out for yourself but at least you can prepare yourself" Sarutobi continued before handing some documents to Naruto for him to sign.

"Very well then . . . there is one other thing I would care to address" Naruto said and Sarutobi raised an eyebrow at the boy.

 _Flashback_

"Hey! Aren't you the demon brat that went missing two years ago?" Growled the owner of a grocery store that Naruto had entered. He was intending to buy some supplies to keep himself stocked but the owner was now suddenly in front of him. "If you wanna buy some food, you're gonna have to settle with this!" the man said, a smug smile on his face as he not too gently shoved Naruto towards a section that held rotten foods for ridiculous prices.

"I think I won't be buying anything, I apologize for wasting your time" Naruto said as he turned to leave the store

"Oi! You think you're leaving here with your money? Hand it over or I call thief and we see who the ninja believe!" the man growled, causing Naruto to turn his head in the direction of the store owner.

"Or I go to the hokage and alert him to the fact that you are selling rotten food to the people, obviously you are a spy and a saboteur here to cause illness and disease to the people of Konoha" Naruto replied and the man just grinned

"You go ahead, I dare you to!" he said smugly, not realising Naruto was going to do just that

 _Flashback end_

"Hmm, I see the issue and you are right that selling rotten foods is illegal and that was an attempt to rob one of my shinobi" Sarutobi said, puffing on his pipe in thought.

"If I may make a request Hokage-sama" Naruto began, causing the old man to look down at the boy "Would it be within the situational rights for me to purchase that place?" Sarutobi frowned as Naruto said this. The store owner did break two separate laws and thus the punishment would be the seizure of his assets as recompense for his crimes and possibly a prison sentence but that left the question of why Naruto wanted to own a simple grocery store.

"I'm not certain you will have the time to manage a business Naruto" Sarutobi said, hoping to draw the boy's plans out.

"Perhaps but I can hire people to work there" Naruto replied and the old kage sighed. Naruto was up to something but for the most part it was benefiting Konoha so he saw little reason to say no.

"It won't be my problem if your business goes under Naruto" The old man lectured quietly while Naruto merely nodded. "If that will be all . . . I have more paperwork to do" the old man said before summoning a shadow clone and getting out some documents to fill out.

* * *

Alright class quieten down!" Called out Iruka and by sheer fact that Naruto was standing beside him, the class slowly began to quieten down as they wondered who the mystery boy was. After several moments of waiting, the class finally came to silence and Iruka continued. "Due to special circumstances, Team seven will consist of Naruto here as well as Sasuke and Sakura with the jounin sensei of Hatake Kakashi . . . please go sit with your teammates Naruto" Iruka said and Naruto nodded as he walked over to the bench that Sasuke was sitting at alone. The dark haired Uchiha casted a glance in Naruto's direction but otherwise kept looking out the window, pretending to ignore Naruto.

Iruka continued calling out teams until they were all assigned and then gave a speech about how they were ninja before telling them to go get lunch before the jounin arrived and leaving the room himself. Outside, Naruto found Sakura sitting on a park bench alone, her long pink hair fluttering slightly in the breeze and her bangs covering her forehead.

"Y-you're Naruto aren't you?" Sakura asked a little shyly. "Didn't you used to go to the academy like two years ago?" she asked

"Yes . . . also, please refrain from using my name . . . where I'm from, names are only used between loved ones" Naruto said in reply as he sat down next to the girl whose face went bright scarlet at the implications. Naruto pulled out a scroll and summoned a bento box, opening it up to reveal a simple meal of rice and smoked salmon. Sakura watched Naruto as he gracefully pulled out his chopsticks and began eating as if he were sitting in a formal setting. "What is your dream?" Naruto asked after taking a few bites of his meal.

"I'm sorry?" Sakura asked, thrown by Naruto's question.

"What is your dream? What do you strive for?" Naruto asked before taking another bite of his meal.

"Err . . . uhh . . ." Sakura started, looking up at the sky in confusion before rising her hands to cover her face as she let out a girlish giggle. "To marry Sasuke-kun" Sakura said in an airy voice

"Then quit" Naruto said simply, pausing a bite of food to say that. Sakura was stunned by what she just heard.

"W-what do you mean quit!?" she asked indignantly, rounding on Naruto with anger in her eyes.

"Simple, if you go on missions, you might die" Naruto said and Sakura cocked her head at him, she wouldn't die with Sasuke protecting her.

"No matter who is on your team or what mission you go on, any mission you go one could be your last and then who will marry Sasuke" Sakura shivered at that thought. When she had first seen the dark clad boy standing in front of the class, she had wondered what he'd be like, he looked kind of handsome but nowhere near as much as Sasuke but his voice now that she heard it, was so cold.

"T-that will never happen! Sasuke-kun would never let me die! Oh how great will it be for Sasuke-kun to come rescue me" Sakura said as she stared off into space dreamily.

"Are you saying you are purposefully going to get into life threatening situations just so Sasuke may rescue you? If so then I will be recommending to the Hokage that you be dismissed from the shinobi force" Naruto said, turning to look at Sakura with his cold apathy that she had been starting to get to know. Sakura for her part was offended, here was this random idiot coming up to her to tell her she should quit as a ninja just because of who she wanted to marry and- "You are saying that you want to drag this team down and cause potentially lethal engagements just to get at Sasuke" Naruto said, cutting off Sakura's thoughts. "You are saying you would do anything including allow teammates to die just to improve your chances with him . . . that is why I told you to quit . . . you can pursue Sasuke as a civilian and that will be infinitely more safe for you and this team" he said and Sakura's eyes widened in surprise "you can't get killed on mission if you don't go on missions and you can't go on mission if you are pregnant or caring for children" Naruto said, returning to his food. "Why did you join the academy?" he asked the girl.

"I . . . I don't remember . . . it's always been Sasuke this and Sasuke that . . . I don't remember why I wanted to become a ninja" Sakura said softly, lowering her head in shock at realising that she had no idea why she wanted to go risk her life in the first place.

"You are aware you will need to kill people? It is not a maybe, it is not a possibly, it is a fact, you will have killed someone by the year's end" Naruto stated before continuing to eat. Sakura looked up at Naruto, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes and she desperately wanted the boy to stop talking. "Your first kill might be in the heat of battle . . . but your second? Your third? You will be killing in cold blood in no time . . . slitting people's throats and watching the blood drain from them" Naruto said, his soft voice knifing into Sakura with every word

"No . . . please . . . stop" Sakura pleaded, trying to stop the mental images showing her exactly what he was saying.

"That's before we even get to the assassination missions . . ." Naruto continued, ignoring the girl beside him who was crying "And for you? The seduction missions" he said and Sakura whimpered. "You being told to go up to some fat slob, seduce him, have sex with him and kill him in his sleep" Sakura slumped to the floor, curling into a fetal position with her hands over her ears.

"No more . . . please no more" she whimpered

"That's the life you have chosen" Naruto said and the girl was sobbing uncontrollably "But you still have choice" he said, studying what was left of his meal. "There is always choice" he continued and Sakura slowly stopped crying to look at Naruto. "Ninja take on missions such as assassinations regularly . . . why? We are paid to maim and murder . . . why? Is this everything in life? Is this all we are to be?" Naruto asked and Sakura sat up, recognition hitting her as she connected the dots. They get paid to kill so people keep hiring them to kill, legal murder. "Indeed" Naruto said as if he had heard Sakura's thoughts "We do help along legal murder . . . we inspire it, people all around the elemental nations know that they can have someone they don't like murdered for the right price while farmers worry day and night when the ninja will come and destroy their properties" Naruto said, causing Sakura's eyes to go wide.

"S-so what are you doing? You wouldn't be telling me all this if you weren't doing something right?" Sakura asked and Naruto turned his head to look at the girl who was sitting on the pathway.

"I have something in mind . . . don't worry, it's nothing dangerous" he said "But it's hard to pull off alone" he said and Sakura understood why Naruto was telling her this, he wanted allies.

"I . . . I don't know" Sakura said, unsure of what she should be doing in this situation, she had a feeling that what Naruto wanted would go against Konoha and she wasn't sure.

"Take your time . . . this is something that should be carefully considered rather than rushed into" Naruto told Sakura as he put his bento away and stood up from the bench. "Come, I think it's time we return to meet our new sensei" Naruto said as he offered Sakura his hand. She took it and Naruto lifted her to her feet with no effort. "Are you ill?" Naruto asked and Sakura cocked her head in confusion

"No why?" she asked, wondering why Naruto would ask her that.

"You are far too light for a kunoichi your age and height" Naruto said, studying Sakura's form and noticing just how thin she really was.

"Well I need to keep my figure for Sasuke . . . that's a civilian thing isn't it?" Sakura asked and Naruto nodded to which the girl sighed, she was going to need to eat more.

* * *

Kakashi looked at his three new charges, suppressing a heavy sigh as he took the three in. on the right was Naruto, a boy that was pulling off a chillingly apathetic look, in the middle was Sasuke, a boy pulling off a bored look and on the left was Sakura, a girl pulling off a 'I have just had my entire life rearranged and reorganized' look.

"I'm Hatake Kakashi, things I like and things I hate? I don't feel like telling you. Dreams for the future? Never really thought about it . . . as for hobbies . . . I have lot's of hobbies" Kakashi said, his face almost perfectly expressionless as he studied the reactions of the three genin and noticed he got a deadpan look from Sakura, a bored look from Sasuke and Naruto's facial expression hadn't changed at all. Kakashi was beginning to get worried that perhaps Naruto might have been in ROOT for the last two years, it would go to explain a lot. "Alright, you on the right, you first" he called out, directing his attention to Naruto.

"My name isn't important, you all already know it" Naruto said in his usual soft monotone "My likes and dislikes are equally unimportant" He continued and Kakashi was getting more and more convinced that Naruto was ROOT "My dreams for the future are less dreams and more of an achievable goal but I will not bore you with the details" he said and Kakashi narrowed his eye, wondering exactly why the boy was being so cryptic. "Lastly, my hobbies are my own" he said. All in all, Naruto had revealed absolutely nothing about who he was and what he wanted yet Sakura seemed like she already knew this and much more about the blonde.

"Alright, next, you pinky" Kakashi said as he turned his attention to the girl, she was more than likely to be extolling the Uchiha's virtues and forgetting all of his shortcomings but still, he might as well ask.

"Haruno Sakura . . . I . . . like stuff . . . I dislike bullies . . . don't have any hobbies and I'm still trying to decide on my dreams for the future . . . but world peace seems like as good a one as any" Sakura said, her eyes tracking the sky before returning them to Kakashi.

"Alright, you in the middle" Kakashi said, his thoughts dwelling on what Sakura said and realising that she probably had had her life rearranged and reorganised recently.

"Uchiha Sasuke . . . I hate many things and I don't particularly like anything" Sasuke said from between his clasped hands "I don't have any hobbies and I won't say I have a dream because it's not a dream . . . it's an ambition . . . I will make it happen . . . and that is to rebuild my clan and destroy a certain someone" Sasuke said and this caused both Naruto and Sakura to turn and look at him. Kakashi wasn't sure he liked the look Naruto gave Sasuke but he figured that it wouldn't matter in the long run since they were just genin he was going to fail anyway.

"Right . . . well you three are each unique and you have your own ideas . . . sorta . . . we'll work on that" Kakashi said with an eye smile. "We will have our first mission tomorrow" Kakashi continued and still received no reaction from the children. Normally they would have asked what the mission was by now.

"Do you require us to meet you at the missions office tomorrow?" Naruto asked, directing his attention to Kakashi who merely blinked at Naruto.

"Err no, that's alright, I already have tomorrow's mission . . . it's a survival exercise" Kakashi replied only to receive a curious look from Sakura but that was it. "Alright, since you three seem to be the least motivated team I have ever seen, I will just straight up say it!" Kakashi said loudly "The graduation exams you have already been through was not the end of the testing to become ninja!" he said and suddenly received much more attention from Sakura and Sasuke but Naruto still looked on in complete apathy. "Of the twenty seven students who graduated this year, only nine will be accepted, the rest will be weeded out and sent back to the academy or shunted into the genin corps!" he said. "So in short, this survival test has a sixty percent failure rate!"

"But sensei" Sakura called out "Why did we do the graduation exams for anyway if it was all for nothing?" she asked

"Oh that? That was just to weed out the hopeless incompetents" Kakashi replied nonchalantly, secretly relieved that he finally got a reaction out of one of the three. "Be at the third training ground at zero five hundred sharp! And bring your ninja gear" Kakashi said as ominously as possible.

* * *

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked the blonde that had appeared in front of him.

"Training . . . if we are to be a team, we need to be able to operate as a unit, Sakura is already on her way to the third training ground, you and I should meet her there" Naruto replied as he studied the last Uchiha.

"Tch, I don't need you or that useless girl, you will only get in my way" Sasuke replied and walked around Naruto. Naruto for his part sighed inwardly while outwardly he took a step to his right so that he was once again in Sasuke's way.

"You believe yourself superior to me and all others because of your dead clan" Naruto stated and Sasuke glared at him.

"You don't get to talk about the Uchiha like that! We were the most superior clan in the entire village and nobody could refute that!" Sasuke replied hotly.

"And yet they are dead" Was Naruto's reply before he was redirecting a fist that came at him from the dark Uchiha.

"What would you know about dead family! I bet you have a loving mother and father at home!" Sasuke growled out before throwing another punch, leaping up and spinning so as to slam his foot into Naruto's face with high power. Naruto caught Sasuke's leg, twisted his wrist so that Sasuke flipped over and let go so Sasuke hit the ground face first.

"I wouldn't know because they died when I was born . . . but you are right in one regard, I do have a loving family now" Naruto replied as he looked over the Uchiha

"How? How did you counter that so easily?" Sasuke asked incredulously.

"I trained" Naruto replied easily "And if we trained together as a unit, making sure that each other's weaknesses are covered and our strengths are accentuated . . . our team can become far more than the individual sum of its parts . . . the living machine" Naruto said, his monotone cutting straight into Sasuke who merely grunted and picked himself up. "I am more of a capture and infiltration specialist while you are a combat specialist and Sakura is . . . a blank slate we can mold to the shape that suits the needs of our team" Naruto continued and Sasuke nodded, albeit reluctantly.

"Fine, we'll try it your way but I won't have you slowing me down on my quest for power" Sasuke said as he turned around and began to make his way towards the third training ground.

"What is your dream?" Naruto asked and Sasuke stopped to look at the blonde.

"I told you, it's not a dream, it's an ambition" Sasuke replied

"Then you don't have a dream . . . something to live your entire life for, ambitions are created and achieved like meals for dinner" Naruto said, looking straight into Sasuke's eyes "You may have an ambition to reach the rank of chunin but to have the dream of reaching chunin means you would die happy when you made that rank" he explained "Would you die happy when you killed your brother? Or when your clan has been revived? Neither, they are ambitions, not dreams so you will never be at peace with your life" Sasuke's eyes were wide open as he took in Naruto's words "I will train you as well as Sakura . . . train you in what true power means.

"How old are you?" Sasuke asked, his surprise written on his face.

"Older than you think" was Naruto's reply

* * *

"I want to fight you seriously this time!" Sasuke said before dropping into his taijutsu stance. Team seven was in the clearing at the third training ground and Sasuke was standing opposite Naruto, ready to fight.

"It will not go in your favour" Naruto stated, he wasn't trying to gloat or talk himself up but Naruto knew better than to let an inferior opponent attack him without a warning beforehand. Sasuke merely growled before charging at Naruto, kunai drawn but he was unprepared when Naruto made a one handed ram sign and Sasuke stopped short of hitting Naruto.

"W-what?" Sasuke asked as he looked down and saw a tendril of darkness wrapped around his stomach that was connected to Naruto's back.

"I can manipulate this tendril like my own limb . . . I could have made this pierce your flesh but instead I chose to incapacitate you" Naruto explained before flinging Sasuke into a tree. Naruto walked up to Sasuke and made a series of five hand signs that caused a blanket of darkness to rise up from the tree's shadow and cover Sasuke's body, stopping short of his head, the darkness settled and all but a few spots on his chest bled back into the tree's shadow.

 _Flashback_

"We have arranged a sparring partner to assist you in you training" Said Naruto's male instructor, drawing his attention to a girl at around Naruto's age standing in their training field.

"Ah hello, what's your name?" Naruto cheerfully asked and the girl's eyes snapped wide and she opened her mouth, looking down shyly. Naruto then remembered what it was he had done. "Sorry! I forgot you aren't supposed to say stuff like, I'm new here" Naruto said, trying to apologize. The girl looked up and nodded, schooling her features back into the apathetic mask that everyone wore but Naruto thought he saw a hint of disappointment in her eyes, he shook it off as his own imagination though.

"If you two are done greeting each other, take the formalised dueling stance" Said the female instructor and the girl stepped into a fighting stance, her feet in line with her shoulders, her hands flat and facing inwards, one arm in front of the other. The girl stood there for several seconds while Naruto watched confused.

"Take the same stance as me with your leading arm against mine" the girl instructed softly in the same monotone everyone else uses. Naruto did as the girl instructed and took the same stance as her. "This stance is the formalised duel stance because we are both the same distance from each and thus can strike at each other on an equal field" the girl explained and Naruto nodded.

"Alright begin" The male instructor called out and all of a sudden, the girl twisted her leading arm around, grabbed Naruto's arm and pulled him backwards into her fist that was rammed straight into his solar plexus. Naruto fell back onto the ground, coughing blood from the strength of the hit. The girl for her part had wide eyes in shock at what she had done.

"It's . . . it's alright . . . it . . . was a good hit" Naruto said with a grin, coughing up more blood as he did.

"Did you mean it?" Asked the male instructor who had walked over to the girl's side. The girl looked at the man in confusion. "Did you mean the harm you caused him" the man elaborated. The girl shook her head as she returned her gaze to Naruto who was struggling to get up

"Then take responsibility, if you are the one that harms an opponent you did not intend to cause harm to, then you must be the one to heal them" The man said and the girl snapped to attention, running through a series of handsigns until a wave of darkness rose up over Naruto and settled on his chest. "He heals quickly as a result of his blood, return tomorrow and your sparring will continue" the man said and the girl bowed her head at each of the three people before heading off. Only Naruto was the one to see her turn her head just enough to glance in his direction as she left.

 _Flashback end_

"What was that stuff Naruto?" Sakura asked as Sasuke got back on his feet.

"My jutsu . . . I used a healing jutsu to repair the damage I caused . . . it is not good enough for battlefield use but it is just as good as other medical ninjutsu . . . if slower" Naruto explained "now for my first lesson . . . never attack an enemy head on that you know nothing about . . . their every technique will be a surprise" Naruto said and Sakura nodded her head while Sasuke merely glared at him. "You must get used to this" Naruto said, addressing Sasuke "I was forced to learn early on that every little detail I could learn could only aid me in gaining power so approaching everything with patience and endurance could only aid me in the long run" Naruto explained "Now Sakura, we will get you working on improving your capabilities, Sasuke will teach you the Uchiha interceptor fist but you won't be mastering that style of Taijutsu" Naruto said and Sasuke's eye twitched while Sakura merely looked at him in surprise.

* * *

 **Well, we come to the end of another chapter . . . Naruto bought a shop . . . okay . . . for once, I actually know what Naruto is planning with that and you guys might actually like the plot twist that is coming but suffice it to say, there is a reason Naruto is on team seven and it might have something to do with the shop he just bought hehehe my Naruto-kun is quite the devious man hehehehe. also, you might notice i got a wee bit rushed at the end there . . . it's late, i have a headache from lack of drinking anything and it's also rather warm . . . i may have had some trouble keeping my mind on target (didn't help that i stopped to watch nichijou halfway through)**

 **in any case, let me know what you like, disliked, what you thought could use improvement and what you'd like to see more of. take care**


	4. Chapter 4

**Greetings everyone! i had meant to upload a chapter for this story and one for Yadokawa Naruto as well but . . . things happened and i only had time for this story. speaking of which, this story felt a little rushed to me . . . sub-par . . . just a warning in case it really is shite. also i hate english sometimes . . . you lay on a bed and lie about the dog eating your homework but you are also lying in your bed while you are lying about your homework and lies is the present tense of lay but having a lay is a euphemism for sex and there lies the truth of the matter for it is not lies . . . yes those two words are different but spelled the same . . . english . . . well anyway, hope i haven't bored you with my impromptu english lesson (and if you aren't a native speaker and are confused about those words, hope this helped)**

 **last thing before you jump into this story (assuming you stopped to read this AN) this story contains spoilers for Yadokawa Naruto in Sakura's storyline . . . the Haruno clan are the same between these two universes . . . maybe you will find out why . . . eventually.**

 **in any case, hope you enjoy, see you at the bottom.**

* * *

 **Part 3**

A knock sounded on the door to Naruto's new grocery shop as he studied the records left by the previous owner. Walking over to the entrance and opening the door, Naruto saw a rather tall man with a pair of glasses and, perhaps his most identifying feature, a mop of bright pink hair.

"Can I help you?" Naruto asked in his usual monotone as he studied the man before him, the sun's early morning rays slowly approaching as it crested the horizon.

"I work here . . . can I help you?" the large man retorted somewhat hotly.

"Ahh, I see, you must be an employee of the previous owner of this establishment . . . unfortunately, the man was found guilty of attempting to poison citizens of Konoha along with a few other crimes and thus his property was seized by the state . . . which I have now bought" Naruto explained, stepping back to allow the big man through. "If you would like, I could get a new contract written up so as to continue your employment here" he continued,

"Name's Kizashi" The man said, adjusting his glasses before stepping into the store. "So, you're a ninja huh? I'm in the Genin Corps myself but you know how it is, hardly much for us to do these days" Kizashi continued as he walked over to the counter where Naruto produced a form for Kizashi to fill out.

"I'm afraid that your duties will be expanded since I will be unable to take care of this store as much as the previous owner did so I am making you the manager of it instead . . . you arrived just in time to solve this issue for me" Naruto said, seeming to ignore what Kizashi had just said. The tall man bent over and read through the contract before signing his name down and turning to look at Naruto, his eyes narrowed at the boy.

"You're from that place aren't you?" Kizashi said almost in a whisper. Naruto turned to face Kizashi, he had been checking the stock on the shelves with what the records stated. "That monotone, the blank apathy . . . you are from that village . . . why are you here?" Kizashi asked, straightening up but keeping his voice level. "I may be just a genin . . . but the last person to mistake that for weakness did not live long" he informed the blond boy, adjusting his glasses again.

"Your daughter is on my genin squad . . . and I agree with titles not representing strength levels" Naruto replied, giving Kizashi a blank stare to say his threats had done nothing. Upon hearing that his daughter was placed on Naruto's team, Kizashi almost immediately began to panic.

"W-what do you want with her!? What could you possible need her for!? She's just a girl! She doesn't need to be involved in any of this!" Kizashi exclaimed taking a step forward.

"I wish to unlock her bloodline . . . it will be useful" Naruto replied, turning back to the shelves he was inspecting.

"You can't! If you do they will come after her! It's bad enough I'm already attracting suspicions!" Kizashi practically shouted, still doing his best to keep his voice down.

"You needn't worry about that any more" Naruto replied, looking over his shoulder at the man who was in the process of composing himself.

* * *

Sakura and Sasuke arrived more or less at the same time as each other and saw Naruto casually sitting on his knees in front of a low table, a pot of tea and three cups on it. As the two pre-teens watched him, Naruto pulled out three plates with diced, grilled salmon on them, three bowls of rice and three bowls of what looked like miso soup and some side dishes of natto.

"What's with the traditional breakfast? And how'd you even get that table out here anyway?" Asked Sasuke as he walked over to the table in question. Sakura was also intently staring at the contents of the table as she realised that it would have taken a lot of time to get this stuff prepared.

"I made all of this at home and merely summoned it to my location when the time was right" Naruto replied, his monotone becoming a common sound for the pre-teens. "Sit and let's have breakfast" Naruto said, indicating the spots on the table he had laid out for the other two members of his squad. The other two took places at the low table and Naruto poured them cups of tea while they picked up their chopsticks.

"If you have time to make such foods then you should spend it training" Sasuke said in a low voice as he popped a piece of grilled fish into his mouth.

"This is a form of training . . . there are many different concepts and ideals that allow one to think and operate on an entirely different level to what you are taught and what you expect" Naruto replied. "For instance, having the patience born of years of doing things the long way means I am comfortable waiting to take in information . . . to plan . . . you, however" Naruto said as he turned to face Sasuke "Have stated that you want power to kill your brother . . . you have not considered anything other than that quest to gain power . . . thoughts of plans and plots are banished from your mind" Naruto explained

"What good's a plan gonna do me!? I need power to defeat my brother! I need strength and jutsu!" Sasuke growled angrily as he practically slammed the bowl of rice he had picked up back down onto the table.

"A single person can destroy an entire country . . . with the right plan" Naruto said calmly, not even reacting to Sasuke's outburst. "For instance, if I were to make the people of Konoha believe that the Hokage was pure evil . . . I could have them tear the village apart and all I would have had to do to get this result is spread some information, make people ask some unanswerable questions" he explained and that got Sasuke to calm down. "The more time you spend on a plot, the more detailed and subtle it can become" Naruto said as he finished off his rice and moved onto his fish. "You could kill your brother without ever being in the same country as him" Sasuke stared down at the table, a scowl on his face as he took in what Naruto had just told him.

"So how are we going to beat Kakashi's test?" Sakura asked quietly, she had eaten a larger meal for dinner than normal and actually felt more energetic that morning and better rested than normal, her father seemed to also be pleased.

"I have my Ninjutsu . . . Sasuke has his Ninjutsu . . . the problem then lies with you" Naruto said as he turned to face Sakura who's eyes widened. "You however, have a hidden secret" he continued and Sakura cocked her head in confusion.

"What do you mean a hidden secret?" she asked knowing that she wasn't keeping any of those, not really anyway.

"Sakura, try the hand signs of Ram, Dog, Hare and Ram" Naruto commanded with Sakura almost hesitantly getting up and getting some distance to try the combination.

"H-how do I channel my chakra?" Sakura asked as she brought her hands up to start stringing together the jutsu.

"You will see" Was Naruto's cryptic reply and Sakura began, completely unsure of what would happen. Almost as soon as Sakura started the Jutsu, she felt her chakra get cold. Channeling that cold chakra turned out to be so much easier than previously as she finished the jutsu and suddenly instinct took over and she thrust her hand forward, sending a blast of pure cold at a tree that promptly froze solid with Sakura and Sasuke staring at it in shock.

"W-what was that?" Sakura asked quietly, stunned completely out of her depth. "My chakra . . . it didn't change back" she realised with growing horror "What happened to my chakra?!" she asked almost frantically.

"Your father can tell you more but other than that . . . tell no one . . . some bloodlines aren't appreciated even here in Konoha" Naruto said and Sakura snapped her attention onto the blond boy.

"Bloodline?! I have a Bloodline!?" Sakura was almost screeching at this point.

"Sakura! Didn't you hear him? If you go shouting it out people will hear and you could be in danger!" Sasuke exclaimed, completely unsure as to why he should care but he, more than anyone, knew about wanted bloodlines. Sakura's eyes widened and she slapped a hand over her mouth as she realised her mistake.

"Talk to your father . . . when you are alone" Naruto said, calmly taking a sip of his tea. Sakura returned to the table and the three continued their meal in silence.

"So what's our plan?" Sakura asked, still shell shocked from the revelation of her bloodline.

"Simple, we shall wait for him to give us our mission directive and then formulate a plan on what new knowledge we have gained . . . one cannot make a battle plan before they even know what sort of battle they are fighting" Naruto explained and Sakura nodded, returning to her meal.

* * *

The first thing Kakashi noticed when he arrived at the designated training zone was that there was a frozen tree, the second thing he noticed was that there was a table with empty plates and bowls on it right next to the three training logs.

"I thought I told you not to eat breakfast" Kakashi stated with a deadpan as he watched his three new genin.

"Actually sensei, you didn't" Sakura commented calmly as she took a sip of her tea. Kakashi sighed, in his surprise and confusion, he had forgotten to spook the kids out and get them to obey foolish orders.

"Right, since you are all here" Kakashi said before pulling out an alarm clock and slamming it down on top of one of the training logs "This is set to noon . . . you have until then to retrieve these from me" he continued as he pulled two bells from a pouch on his belt and then stuck them to his belt in full view. "If you can't get a bell, you are going back to the academy . . . or just getting shunted into the genin corps . . . each one of you must have your own individual bell by the end of the time limit to pass this test" kakashi explained and watched the information sink in.

"But sensei, there is only two bells" Sakura pointed out, a frown on her face.

"That's right Sakura, that means that one of you is guaranteed to be sent back to the academy" Kakashi replied with an eye smile, secretly happy he had managed to surprise and perhaps even concern for their future. Of course Naruto just looked as apathetic as usual. "So, when I say begin, you may begin and don't be afraid to use ninja tools, if you don't come at me with intent to kill, you won't succeed" Kakashi said before brushing the bells on his belt for added effect. Sakura and Sasuke immediately got up from their places and prepared themselves to dash away while Naruto merely sat there and continued to drink his tea. "Alright . . . your time starts . . . now!" Kakashi said and Sasuke and Sakura disappeared from view as fast as they could. Naruto meanwhile was still just sitting there drinking tea. "I'm not sure you understand the nature of this test Naruto-kun" Kakashi said with a deadpan.

"Don't I?" Naruto asked calmly, finishing his tea before sitting it down and looking at Kakashi. "Perhaps it is you that doesn't understand the nature of this test" Naruto said, his perfectly straight face making it seem like Naruto was perfectly serious.

"How can I not understand the nature of my own test?" Kakashi asked, feeling a headache come on, the boy was about to get into a philosophical debate with him, he just knew it.

"But is it your test?" Naruto asked in reply and Kakashi was immediately on guard. How could this mere genin know about those things.

* * *

"The parameters of this test are erroneous" Naruto said to the two pre-teens before him. He and the other two members of team seven were camped out in a small clearing away from Kakashi while Naruto's clone was keeping the silver haired jounin distracted.

"What's that supposed to mean idiot?" Sasuke asked, almost growling at Naruto, he hated the fact that this random kid was smarter than him.

"There is no such thing as a two genin squad . . . before my joining of this graduating class, there was twenty six students graduating . . . this meant that one squad was without its third teammate and I was told by a reliable source that the team would have been disbanded and shunted into the genin corps automatically" Naruto explained and watched as Sakura and Sasuke's eyes widened. "We have been lied to in order to propagate infighting and lessen our ability to complete the mission" he continued and the other two nodded.

"So what do we do?" Sakura asked, deferring to Naruto. Sasuke as well looked to Naruto and waited to hear what he had to say.

"We have several advantages on our side . . . for our first attack, we shall surprise Kakashi with Sakura's new jutsu" Naruto said and Sakura fidgeted

"I thought you said it was dangerous to reveal my bloodline" Sakura said, looking down at the ground.

"I did and it is, Kakashi won't be an issue" Naruto replied before turning to Sasuke "You will be the second attack" he said and Sasuke smirked.

* * *

Kakashi walked into a small clearing where he saw Sakura standing across from him, her hands in front of her as if ready to perform Ninjutsu.

"Well, I suppose we can begin with Ninjutsu as our first lesson . . . normally we start with Taijutsu though" Kakashi casually said to the pink haired girl who merely smirked and ran through a short, unfamiliar, string of hand signs. Kakashi reacted instantly and was standing in a tree branch as he watched the tree behind him freeze completely solid from Sakura's attack, wondering how the girl had learnt Ninjutsu like that and why it was never mentioned that the girl had some in her arsenal. Kakashi was broken from his thoughts by a leg rushing towards his face.

"You wanted Taijutsu" Sasuke said with a confidant smirk, his leg caught in Kakashi's grip before he twisted around, stringing together his own hand signs and Kakashi's one visible eye widened in shock as he recognised the jutsu about to be used against him. Kakashi had just enough to to enact a replacement jutsu and ended up in a nearby tree, watching as the fireball that Sasuke conjured slammed into the ground.

"Impressive . . . genin normally don't have the chakra let alone the control to perform that jutsu" Kakashi said, he was impressed, it was impressive. "But this was a Taijutsu lesson wasn't it?" He said before rushing at Sasuke and absolutely demolishing Sasuke with rapid paced Taijutsu before finally, Sasuke disappeared in what could only be a splash of darkness.

( **Author here: give "A Hero Returns" by Amadeus Indetzki a go for this battle)**

"I am your opponent now" Was the monotoned voice of Naruto who was behind Kakashi. Kakashi turned around and looked up at the tree branch Naruto was on, a breeze whipping the leaves too and fro, watched as the boy stared him down, watched as darkness rose up and Naruto disappeared, appearing right in front of him. Kakashi had a mere moment to react as a tendril of darkness was heading towards him at high speed. leaping out of the way, Kakashi threw some shuriken at the blond boy who moved to evade. The two then began running around each other in a circle before coming to a stop and launching at each other. Naruto ducked under a kick that swept over his head, punching Kakashi three times in the side in light rapid strikes. Kakashi leapt back, his hands blurring together as a fireball escaped his mouth and rushed at the blond who sank into his own shadow. Kakashi raised his headband and his sharingan blazed as he tracked Naruto who had gotten behind him.

Naruto had a slight frown on his face as he realised what sort of a battle this was turning into. Naruto and Kakashi began running around each other again, not taking their eyes off of each other. They stopped and leapt back from each other before running through a series of hand signs. Kakashi summoned a fire dragon while Naruto summoned a dragon made of shadow. The two dragons circled each other, trying to get at each other's throats, circling, circling before finally, Kakashi's fire dragon tore into the Naruto's shadow dragon and the two exploded.

Naruto picked himself up and looked at Kakashi who was picking himself up as well. Thinking quickly, Naruto strung three hand signs together and Kakashi's shadow sprouted tendrils that grabbed the infamous copy-nin, preventing him from escaping.

"Well done Naruto . . . that was . . . impressive" Kakashi stated with a deadpan, unable to move. He could do a sealess replacement but he thought it would be best to give it to the kids, they had earned it.

"Sakura, if you could fetch the bells please" Naruto said, holding a ram sign to keep the jutsu active.

"Tell me Naruto . . . where did you learn jutsu from the Nara clan?" Kakashi asked, hedging a bet that he was right.

"It's nothing like their jutsu . . . any Nara will tell you that" Naruto replied but Kakashi got the feeling there was more to the story than that. Sakura happily jingled the bells she had taken from Kakashi's belt in front of him with a broad smile while Sasuke appeared from behind a tree, a contemplative look on his face as he had just watched what was effectively a jounin battle between a genin and another jounin.

"So Sakura, who are you taking with you now that you have the bells?" Kakashi asked, feeling the odd sensation of the dark tendrils leave him and Naruto come up behind him.

"Umm does this mean that there is no place for you on the squad if I give the other bell to either Naruto or Sasuke?" Sakura asked back causing Kakashi to raise an eyebrow.

"Why would you think that?" Kakashi asked in slight amusement.

"Because there are only two bells and four members of team seven soooo . . . if you don't get a bell by noon . . ." at that moment the bell went off, forestalling any attempt Kakashi could have made to retrieve a bell "Then you don't get a place on this team either" She finished with a smile while Kakashi merely sighed while Sasuke smirked. "There is no such thing as a two genin team . . . you really thought we wouldn't notice that little detail?" the girl asked, suddenly serious and Kakashi had to give it to them for knowing an obvious fact.

"It has worked for every team up until this one" Kakashi said softly as he walked back to the training logs. Continuing on to the Kunai shaped stone that dominated the space beyond the training logs, Kakashi looked down at it. "This stone . . . some of my best friends are written on this stone" he said in a soft voice before casting a glance back at the team. "This is our duty, to die for Konoha . . . it's your duty now too, someday your names will be written on here or somebody you know" he said before turning back to face the team. "Congratulations squad seven, the test is over . . . we shall begin training mission tomorrow and team training as well" he continued, standing up straight as he addressed his new team.

"One thing Kakashi . . . you never saw Sakura use that frost jutsu" Naruto said, causing the other three members of team seven to look at him.

"And why is that Naruto?" Kakashi asked, worried about the answer.

"Because not all bloodlines are favoured in Konoha . . . for various reasons. Tell the wrong people, Sakura will disappear before you even realise it" Naruto replied. Kakashi narrowed his eye but nodded all the same, he had a feeling he didn't want to know any more, he knew of several people that mysteriously disappeared as soon as rumors of unusual bloodlines came out.

"Meet me at the missions office tomorrow for assignment" Kakashi stated and got three nods in response before he vanished in a puff of white smoke.

* * *

"So how did they do Kakashi?" Sarutobi asked with a friendly smile as he puffed on his pipe.

"I'm sure you were watching Hokage-sama" Kakashi replied, knowing full well that Sarutobi would have been watching Naruto through his crystal ball.

"Ahh yes . . . it seems Naruto has somehow managed to block the sight of my crystal ball" Sarutobi replied, his head lowering slightly in concern.

"Ahh, well then, Naruto is certainly skilled, definitely on chunin level" Kakashi began, downplaying exactly Naruto's skill level. "Sakura was more skilled in Ninjutsu than her file gave her credit for and Sasuke certainly is skilled for a genin, so far those two more than earn their status as the top of the class . . . with Naruto on the squad, I think we could be doing C-rank missions in just a couple of weeks" Kakashi said, staring out the window.

"Sakura is more skilled in Ninjutsu than her file gave her credit hmm?" Sarutobi asked though Kakashi got the feeling it was rhetorical "What kind of jutsu was she using?" he asked and this one was directed at Kakashi.

"Some basic ninjutsu . . . and one low ranking fire jutsu she must have learnt from Sasuke but I was told she had no aptitude for Ninjutsu whatsoever . . . barely able to string together the academy three" Kakashi explained, knowing full well he'd actually have to teach Sakura that low ranking fire ninjutsu to make sure she wasn't caught out. Kakashi was worried, it seemed as if Sarutobi suspected something about Sakura and he knew that it would be unwise to let the aging Hokage know about what transpired in that forest.

"Very good Kakashi . . . I will hold you to that time limit you have given your team . . . two weeks and then doing C-ranks" Sarutobi said, sitting down again, puffing on his pipe. Kakashi noticed the look that the wizened old man gave him, one that said he was being watched. "Keep a close eye on Naruto as well, Kakashi . . . this was the reason I put him on your squad . . . I am worried about the boy's loyalties" it also seemed that Sarutobi was worried about Kakashi's loyalties as well.

"Oh course Hokage-sama . . . I am also worried about his . . . loyalties . . . he knows a touch too much about few too many things" Kakashi said, knowing for fact that Sarutobi was not going to be able to help him.

* * *

 **well, here we are at the end of another chapter . . . i actually spent a minute or two figuring out what a traditional japanese breakfast is . . . it's interesting, quite a variety is put on a traditonal japanese breakfast table . . . in any case, i should mention something about the spoilers . . . Yadowkawa Naruto touches on Sakura a bit so just warning you, this may have spoiled a few reveals for that story that will end up coming up . . . sorry about that but yeah.**

 **last on the list of things to address is the pairings . . . I have decided on a pairing but I am also thinking on having multiple pairings (with breakups included . . . or death . . . hard to have a relationship with a dead girl . . . not impossible given the world of Naruto is what it is but it's hard all the same) so if it looks like a character you don't like is getting the lad, she may not stay the official pairing . . . the only true pairing will be the one Naruto is with when the story ends so let me know what you think and when if they become relevant later but for now . . . love is taking a back seat.**

 **in anycase, let me know what you liked, disliked, what you thought could use improvement and what you'd like to see more of. take care**


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